Show Reviews

Japan '00 is my all-time favorite Phish tour. I usually tell people that all seven shows are fantastic, but that's not really true. 6 of the 7 are fantastic, this is the story of an average show lost among a week of monster shows. At the time of this writing it currently rates a 3.1 on the .net rating scale and I would say that's fair if not a tad high. The Free from this show is fantastic, but doesn't hold up against the monster jams that occurred in almost every show from this mini tour (6/9 Tweezer, 6/10 DWD, 6/14 Twist, 6/15 DWD, 6/16 Jim->Theme)

Set I

First Tube: This show opening First tube is rocking, but standard. Preceded by about 30 seconds of guitar loop/effects from Trey.

PYITE: Little flub by Fish at 1:40 other than that tight. Standard.

Horn: What can I say? Its Horn. Trey misses one note in his solo at 3:06, otherwise flawlessly executed.

Ginsing Sullivan: I love this song! Performed perfectly.

Stash: Short and sweet (11:30) Stash never really breaks away from the typical Stash theme. Weird little lick by Trey right at the beginning, sounds like a mistake that he made work. At around 7:50 it sounds like they may go ambient, but they snap back into it around 8:10. By 9:15 they start their approach to the end of the jam. Well executed, but nothing special.

Dirt: Performed Perfectly.

Possum: Intro is about 90 seconds with the song kicking in at 1:36. Subtle Stash tease at 5:55 - 6:05. ">" into ...

Ice: Trey flubs throughout. Most notably from 3:42 - 4:15, it's like he's totally forgotten the song, pretty painful segment. Not a version to seek out. The low point of the show.

Farmhouse: Never been a huge fan of this song. Played pretty well, but ends a blah set on a blah note.

Highlights: First Tube, Stash, Possum, but none are versions you need to seek out.

Set II

BOAF: Tight little version (8:30) with some cool jamming. At 6:25 Trey kicks in some effects and and it sounds like the jam is going to take off, but they return to the Birds theme around 7:30.

FREE: Highlight of the show. Funky and Groovy. From the Jamming Chart Entry: "After the initial bass solo, Mike and fish lay down a really great groove for Trey and Page to play off." And boy do they. Around 6:00 Trey starts laying down some delay loops. This space-age funk Free is awesome!

Beauty of my Dreams: Another song I love. Performed Perfectly.

Bug: Your standard Bug. Nice building jam at the end. ">" ...

Bowie: Typical, but welcome, spacey-loopy intro. Song kicks in at 2:13. A Fairly straight forward, but well played jam starts around 6 minutes in. Starts getting heavy at about 9:15. The ending segment seems forced. Slight hiccup starting the ending riff at 11:45.

When the Circus comes: Standard.

BOTT: Groovy, but standard 5 minute BOTT. Which is unfortunate considering they played one of the best ones ever 3 days later in Fukouka. ">" ...

HOOD: Typical Type I Hood. Beautiful jam builds to huge crescendo. You know this story well.

Zero: Typical Zero. Rocking, but indistinguishable from almost every other version.

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